H-4642              _______________________________________________

                                                   HOUSE BILL NO. 1949

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              50th Legislature                              1988 Regular Session

By Representatives Locke, Silver, Brough, Brekke, Winsley, P. King and Valle

Read first time 2/1/88 and referred to Committee on Human Services.

AN ACT Relating to child care; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.     The legislature recognizes that:

          (1) Low-income families need child care subsidies in order to maintain economic self-sufficiency;

          (2) Child care subsidies prevent the need for many families to seek income assistance;

          (3) State child care subsidy program rates hamper access to safe, quality child care; and

          (4) Child care subsidy rates should reflect industry rate variations by area of the state and child age.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.     The department of social and health services shall develop a plan to establish a new rate structure for the regular and seasonal day care subsidy programs.  In developing the plan, consideration shall be given to the following:

          (1) Reimbursing providers on a child-slot basis;

          (2) Providing child care enabling parents to complete high school without regard to income;

          (3) Establishing maximum-income eligibility for employment day care at seventy percent of the state median income adjusted for family size;

          (4) Establishing rates which vary by age of the child and area of the state;

          (5) Establishing rate and program structures comparable to those established for the family independence program; and

          (6) Reserving a portion of the day care subsidy slots for persons requiring day care while participating in the family independence program or other training programs designed to prepare individuals for long-term unsubsidized employment and economic independence.

          The plan developed under this section shall include an implementation schedule and an estimate of implementation costs, and shall be submitted to the appropriate committees of the legislature no later than December 1, 1988.